Friday, July 31, 2015

David Dangerfield made it back safe and sound from France. He said it was an amazing experience. We took off at 6:30 am and rode out to Hurricane Hill behind Sand Hollow Reservoir. David didn't even break a sweat. His climbs in France made these hills look like wimpy mounds. I, on the other hand panted away but I did make it up all of our climbs. The best thing he said was "you have improved a lot!" That made me feel hopeful. David is in incredible shape for being a young 74 years old. He could ride up ahead of me, hop off his bike, take a picture and still beat me up the hill!This week I am finishing up gathering logos for our jerseys, lining up spots to stay and updating media. The next 19 days are going to go by so fast!

Sunday, July 26, 2015

After yesterday's ride, my backside hurt bad... so we went to see Nate and Cindy at Bicycles Unlimited. Great suggestions on new cycle shorts- Sugoi . Pro-cyclers wear this brand and I can see why. The padding is much better and is in a more comfortable position. The butt pad is the most important place to spend money on if you are going to ride 50-100 miles at a time. So today I threw away the shorts I have had for 10 years. Went 25 miles today and no pain! They also suggested new gloves which made a world of difference with my hands. We rode at 5 pm and it was over 100 degrees. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Guess we are getting used to the oven. Bob has to head back to New Mexico in the morning so it is back to single rides. We did get some great rides in the last 10 days. We have lots to do before departure... Two big days to keep in mind

August 7- St. George Fest- Mayor and City Council racing trikes to kick off the Breaking the Cycles Tour

August 12- Grand Opening of Switchpoint Pantry

Showing off the new shorts and jerseys. We will be printing in the next two weeks.

Foot bridge in Washington on the new bike trail. It is my favorite trail because the scenery is great and the trail is in excellent condition.

We set out at 8 am to ride to Beaver Dam. The intent was to see if we could make it 100 miles with our two pannier packs loaded on the back. We set out feeling pretty strong and stopped every 10 miles for drinks and snacks. By the time we hit the Gunlock turnoff both of us were feeling it in the shorts, literally. My tailbone was killing me. My legs were fine, my lungs were fine, my attitude was fine. Bob did really good. He is impressing me with his improvement. We put in over 350 miles in the 10 days he has been home.

But we kept on pedaling until we hit the top of the pass. Utah Mountain is a very long incline- the old highway to Mesquite. When we hit the top, but tailbone wouldn't take it anymore so we turned around and headed home to buy new shammie pants. Lesson of the day- don't go cheap with the cycling shorts because they won't last for long miles. At least we still got in 55 miles today. An update on the accident yesterday... he will be off his bike for 3 months but is home and doing much better. He broke his C5 but so glad he is not more seriously damaged. The bright spot in this is I found a new riding partner when he gets better. :)

So today we set out for a long ride since it was a quiet day at work. We were 5 miles into our ride and saw a biker down on the ground not moving. He had hit a parking curb and was catapulted from his bike and face planted. Totally unconscious. I jumped off the bike and ran over to see how he was. He was out for a couple of minutes and his face was pretty messed up. We found his wallet, called his wife and told her to meet the ambulance at the hospital.

Safety Tip #3- Watch out for curbs. I am recommending first thing Monday morning for the Parks Department to paint parking curbs.

Safety Tip #4-Be an observant rider. I caught him out of the corner of my eye and made Bob stop.

We did continue on and rode to Snow Canyon Park again. Then we rode to hospital to see how he was doing. I went and talked to him and his wife. Broken neck, broken nose, brain bleed, broken occipital bone and broken front tooth. They were taking in him for surgery.

Monday, July 20, 2015

We ended up riding 34 miles yesterday with hot and humid conditions. Snow Canyon was beautiful and we "stopped" for lots of breaks to enjoy or was it to take a breather...

This stop was almost to the top of Snow Canyon State Park. It is the last turnout for hiking.

This is Bob's death look. This is before we went up the big hill... People thought we were the official gate keepers for the park- so Bob just let everyone in for free.

This is what I see a lot of..the back of Bob. But I also scratch his back, change pandora stations, read him his text messages or emails, answer his phone etc. I do pedal while doing all his secretary work. :)

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Today we rode to Sand Hollow Reservoir and back. Bob did amazing considering this is his first big day since his knee replacement. I thought he was going to die going up the back hill of Sand Hollow golf course, but he made it! One very note worthy item- after 30 years of being peanut butter free, Bob and I both ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch. He didn't even complain. ha ha! We put both pannier packs on to see what kind of weight we could ride with. Loaded the packs with water, gatorade and spare tubes. Wouldn't you know- we ran over a staple at mile 34 and had to change our tubes. It took us 15 minutes to change and then pump up new tube. We had to ride another 7 miles until we found a pump on the trail that could get us more air than 60 pounds. NOTE TO SELF- get CO2 cartridges!

After work, we decided to drive to Pine Valley and ride in the cool air. At 6800 feet, it was 20 degrees cooler than St. George. The only bad thing is the amount of traffic on a road with no shoulder. We rode for an hour and 45 min then had an excellent dinner at the Branding Iron. Bob did great with his knee.

Very green and beautiful in Pine Valley! We saw lots of cows and horses.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Bob came home from New Mexico today and actually rode 20 miles with me tonight! I did have to pedal hard but at least he was on the bike. His rib was sore, especially on the bumps. But not bad considering his mishap yesterday.

So I got my 20 miles in this morning and another 20 miles tonight. It was hot but doable.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Yesterday was our 40 day and 40 night mark left before we hit the roads.Not going to lie!!! I am getting scared! Yesterday two of my sons where my training partners. Baron did the first loop of 27 miles and then we traded and put Bronco on for the next 36 miles. I couldn't have made it without them. Some things I have learned...1)I can do hard things! I did have to take 3 naps yesterday but not from the ride, the night before I was up all night driving home from Salt Lake. 2) I enjoy riding more than I thought I would. It is a great stress relief and offers solitude. I love riding through Washington County. So much beauty in Southern Utah. 3)I love our tandem bike. Some people don't like tandem's but I enjoy the company.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

We have been getting a lot of rain the last few days! It started on Friday after David and I rode 40ish miles in the morning before work. That evening it came down in buckets with wind, hail and lots of water. Flooded the streets and the bike trails. This morning I had to take several detours because it rained last night and this morning. Can't complain though because it is beautiful out and not HOT!

On August 20th, Bob and Carol Hollowell set out on a 3,760-mile, cross-country bike ride in order to raise awareness and funds to help “Break the Cycle” of poverty in America. Where are they now? Click here to find out...

Switchpoint

Carol's ESPN Interview

Circles

Please check out: CirclesUSA.org Circles is a model program that is helping families break the cycle of poverty across the United States & Canada.